Published on : 03/08/2020 – 18:30Modified : 03/08/2020 – 18:36
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Reduced to 14 during half of the match, the Blues bowed in Edinburgh against Scotland (28-17), Sunday March 8, during the 4th day of the Tournament of the VI Nations 2020. The France team paid dear his indiscipline. The title remains possible, but the task got tough from an arithmetic point of view, a day from the end.
The dream of a Grand Slam in the Six Nations Tournament (title won by winning all matches) has taken flight at the Murrayfield stadium in Edinburgh for the French rugby union team. After a beautiful victory against England, another against Italy and a superb third on the lawn of Wales, the Blues bowed Sunday 8 March against Scotland (28-17) in the 4th day. Blue-white-red rugby will therefore have to wait a little longer before achieving a 10th Grand Slam. The last one dates back to 2010.
Injured cat and Ntamack, Haouas expelled
Confident after their successive victories against England, Italy and Wales, the French had too many hard knocks to hope to chain a fourth victory against the XV of Chardon. Even before kick-off, the coach Fabien Galthié had to revise his plans after Camille Chat’s injury. Then, the Blues were outnumbered quickly when François Cros received a yellow card for illegal tackling (5th). The start of the match turned into a nightmare when Romain Ntamack, struck after a shock, had to give way to Mathieu Jalibert (8th).
The Scots scored first on penalties, but that’s the XV of France who scored the first try by Damian Penaud, at the end of a clever game at the foot of Antoine Dupont (33). The scoring advantage did not last long, however. In the 37th, Mohamed Haouas, the author of a punch to the face of Jamie Ritchie, did not escape the eye of the video referees. The pillar was given a logical red card. And from then on, the Blues, outnumbered, suffered. Just before the break, then again right after, Sean Maitland went to the test.
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Appointment in a week for the attribution of the title
The slew of lost balloons and all these conceded penalties did not help revive the Blues. On the contrary, Scotland worsened the score by Stuart McInally (64th), and only an attempt by captain Charles Ollivon (76th) mitigated this logical defeat (28-17). The Blues have not won at Murrayfield since 2014.
This setback in Scotland and the short victory of England against Wales (33-30) on this 4th day are not without incidence in the classification. The XV of France abandoned first place in the XV of the Rose (13 points each, but a better difference in points for the English). Scotland follows behind in third place (10 points). Ireland is fourth (9 points) but its match against Italy has been postponed due to an epidemic of coronavirus. The title will be played on the 5th and final day of the 2020 Six Nations Tournament, on March 14, with the program: France-Ireland, Italy-England and Wales-Scotland.
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